When making a soufflé you need to create a collar that extends up over the top of the baking dish, so that as the soufflé rises it goes up and doesn’t spill over the sides of the dish. These collars can be created out of parchment paper or foil. Here I answer some commonly asked questions about soufflés, and then provide you step-by-step instructions on how to create a collar and then attach it to your soufflé dish.
What is a Souffle?
A soufflé is a baked, puffy, flavored egg dish. Traditionally, a soufflé starts with a roux (melted butter and flour), liquid (often milk), egg yolks and flavoring (e.g., grated cheese, chopped or puréed vegetables, flaked fish, etc.). Beaten egg whites are then folded into this base, and the whole thing is baked until puffy. During baking, the air in the egg whites expands, causing it to puff up. It will stay puffed for a few minutes after removing from the oven, then it will collapse – but it’s still delicious!
Souffle Collar
In many soufflé recipes, the contents rise taller than the dish they are baked in. In order to support the batter as it rises, we attach a “collar” to the top of the pan.
Commonly asked questions about soufflés
An ovenproof dish designed for baking a soufflé will be round, deep, have straight sides and is typically made of porcelain.
Soufflé dishes come in all sizes. Most commonly, they range from 4-ounce ramekins up to 2-quart dishes. The recipe should specify the size of soufflé dish you need to use.
The best ones are made of porcelain. Glass is also a good material for these dishes.
If you don’t have a soufflé dish, you can use individual ramekins; just reduce the cook time. Other straight sided pans will work, too – like an ovenproof saucepan, or ceramic or glass casserole dish (deeper ones work better).
How to make a Collar for a Soufflé Dish
Here’s all you have to do to make soufflé collar:
- Prep foil.
Tear off a large sheet of foil long enough to wrap around soufflé dish and overlap at least 3 inches on the end. Fold in half lengthwise; grease one side with butter.
- Wrap foil.
Wrap foil around the side of the dish (butter side in) to make a collar around 3 to 4 inches above the top of the dish. - Secure.
Fold over overlapping ends to secure. If necessary, you can secure it further by tying a string around the outside of the collar, just below the top of the dish.
That’s it! So easy. Now that you know how to do it, here are a few of my favorite soufflé recipes to try:
Enjoy!
